Li Bin (diplomat)

Li Bin (simplified Chinese: 李滨; traditional Chinese: 李濱; pinyin: Lǐ Bīn; born July 1956) is a former Chinese diplomat. He previously served as the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea,[1] during his term of that office, he gave information to the Government of South Korea, he was placed under investigation by the Chinese national security unit in December 2006.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.
Li Bin
李滨
Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
In office
October 2001 – August 2005
Preceded byWu Dawei
Succeeded byNing Fukui
Personal details
BornJuly 1956 (age 64)
Beijing
NationalityChinese
Political partyCommunist Party of China
Alma materKim Il-sung University
OccupationDiplomat

Life and career

Li was born in Beijing in July 1956 and is of north korean descendant.


After graduating from Kim Il-sung University in 1977 he assigned to the Chinese Embassy in North Korea.[2]

In 1994 he was promoted to become the Chinese Counsellor to South Korea, a position he held until 1997. Then he was Chinese Minister-Counsellor to North Korea. After this office was terminated in October 2001, he became the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, serving until August 2005.[3][4]

He was deputy director of the Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in August 2005, and held that office until June 2006.

In June 2006, he was appointed the deputy mayor of Weihai. He remained in that position until December 2006.

Allegations of Espionage

In 2006, Chinese officials took Li into custody for allegations of corruption.[5] Soon after his arrest however, authorities began to allege that he had leaked state secrets to South Korean media outlets. Through a series of interrogations, Chinese authorities began to broaden their claims to say that Li had leaked state secrets to officials in the United States and South Korea.[6]

One South Korean journalist that was suspected to have profited off the leaks, Park Ki-sung, published a blog post that Li had not been his source.[7] The information leaked as well as Li's contacts have never been publicly released.

In 2007, Li was "lightly sentenced" to seven to eight years in prison on economic charges.[8]

References
  1. Wang Linchang (2002-08-22). 建交十年 感怀万千——访驻韩大使李滨. People.com (in Chinese).
  2. "Former Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Charged for Giving N.Korean Data to S.Korea and U.S." english.donga.com. The Dong-A ilbo. 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  3. 宁赋魁被任命为驻韩国大使 免去李滨大使职务. Sohu (in Chinese). 2005-09-11.
  4. 驻韩大使李滨：山东应扩大对韩文化产品的出口. Jiaodong.net (in Chinese). 2004-09-11.
  5. Brookes, Adam (2014-11-04). "Is China Swarming With Foreign Spies?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  6. Cody, Edward (2007-09-13). "Chinese Envoy Gave N. Korea Data to South, Officials Say". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  7. Lee, Sunny (2007-03-03). "Asia Times Online :: China News - A South Korean reporter's confession". www.atimes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  8. Wise, David (2011-09-06). "China's spilled secrets". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
Diplomatic posts
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Wu Dawei		 Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
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Ning Fukui
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